The present invention relates generally to the field of selection of proposals, and more specifically, to the collaborative selection of proposals.
Organizations often plan their future activities by funding a set of projects. The set of funded projects is constructed by selection from a set of proposals, ideas, suggestions, opportunities, etc., based on some criteria. Although the final decision may be made by a single authority, the selection process typically involves multiple parties. The involvement of multiple parties is important both for formulating the criteria and for actually evaluating the proposals. The problem though is that members of the selection team may be based in many different locations.
Travel is expensive, time consuming, and disruptive, especially when it is international. There is a limited amount of time and money that members can allocate for travel to proposal selection meetings. Teleconferences can substitute for travel, but there is a limit as to how long they can last.
In a meeting or teleconference, proposals are typically considered one at a time. If the organization wishes to select an optimal subset, it has to consider combinations of proposals. Ideally, an organization wishes to identify a best combination that satisfies some prescribed requirements. The problem is that the number of possible combinations grows exponentially with the number of proposals.
US Patent Application Publication 20020082882A1 to Perry et al. (hereafter “Perry”) discloses a method for evaluating a business proposal, and a computerized system for evaluating and pricing the proposal. An evaluation for a service is generated by gathering information on the customer, the service-provider's cost experience in providing service to this and other customers, and the estimated cost of providing this particular service. The method may also be used to calculate the benefit to the provider of providing and to the customer of receiving a particular service.
However, Perry does not disclose a method that facilitates the finding a subset of proposals that is best possible with respect to criteria formulated collaboratively, without the need for very long meetings or teleconferences.
US Patent Application Publication 20010032171A1 to Moulinet et al. (hereafter “Moulinet”) discloses that requesting a proposal and awarding a contract for provision of services is implemented by a local computing system, a remote computing system, and a service provider system. Proposal parameters and a service area requirement that define a request for proposal (RFP) are used to screen a list of service providers. A short list of service providers is defined based on the service providers' qualifications. Using a single action, an RFP is simultaneously submitted to the service providers on the short list. A service provider retrieves from the remote computing system stored content for use in preparing a response to the RFP. The service provider system submits the response to the requesting party via the remote computing system. RFPs and responses thereto are tracked, with the status of the RFPs and responses being reported using various indicators. A contract for the provision of services is awarded to a winning service provider.
However, Moulinet does not disclose a method that facilitates finding a subset of proposals that is best possible with respect to criteria formulated collaboratively, without the need for very long meetings or teleconferences.
Therefore, there is a need for a method that facilitates the finding a subset of proposals that is best possible with respect to criteria formulated collaboratively, without the need for very long meetings or teleconferences.